William e



W. E. SNEDIKER.

. VISE.

No. 519,028. Patehted May 1, 1894.

n4: NATIONAL LIYH NITE STATES LATENT twice.

WILLIAM E. SNEDIKER, OF TRENT ON, NEYV JERSEY.

Vl SE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 519,028, dated May 1, 1894.

Application filed May 31,1893. Serial No. 476,023- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SNEDIKER, of Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vises; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being. had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention is an improvement on a vise for which Letters Patent No. 188,688 were issued to me on March 20, 1877. In my vise covered by said Letters Patent a reciprocating nut fitted upon the screw of the vise is arranged to force a toothed clamping block into engagement with a longitudinal rack on the inner side of the case of the vise, enabling the operative to produce a quick clamping action of the jaws of the vise, as is fully shown in said Letters Patent. But the wedging of the nut and clamping block in a vise so constructed produces a heavy strain upon the case of the vise which must be made of un usual length and weight, while the slidingbar of the vise is seriously weakened by the longitudinal slots necessarily made in it to permit of the operation of the clamping pieces.

The objects of my present invention are to obviate the strong wedging action produced in operating my former device, to strengthen the sliding-bar by the omission of the excessive slotting formerly incident thereto, and to shorten the case, greatly reducing the amount of material therein, thus enabling me to produce a stronger, better and less costly mechanism. r g

In the drawings formingapart of this speci-' fication Figure 1 shows in part a vertical longitudinal section through the middle of a vise containing my improvements, the outside of the front part of the vise including the jaws being also shown therein. Fig. 2 shows a vertical cross-section of the vise on the line 2, 2 of Fig. 1'; and Fig. 3 shows a modification of means for adjusting the reciprocating nut.

In the drawings A is the front or movable jaw of the vise, and B is the back or fixed jaw thereof.

C is the sliding-bar to which the jaw A is attached; and D is the casein which the sliding bar 0 moves. The sliding-bar O is preferably, but not necessarily, made rectangular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, and is cored rectangularly nearly throughout its entire length.

E is the screw of the vise, and is threaded as shown in Fig. 1. Upon the threaded portion of the screw E is fitted the nut F which is threaded internally to fit and work upon the screw E, and corresponds in cross-section to the core of the sliding-bar 0 within which it reciprocates. The forward lower part of the screw-nut F presents an inclined plane broken preferably by two lugs or shoulders a, b though the number of such shoulders may be varied; one or several answering the same purpose.

Below the screw E and resting upon the lower member of the slidingbar 0 is the clamping-block G. The clamping-block is provided with serrations or teeth located along the middle of its lower side. The teeth on the block are arranged to take into the teeth of the rack H, which rack is attached firmly to the base of the vise; the lower member of the sliding-bar 0 being slotted longitudinally to permit the teeth of the clampin g-block to contact with the rack. The rear face of the clamping-block is oppositely inclined to the forward face of the screw-nut F, and is provided preferably with two shoulders 0, cl, the number ofshoulders on the clamping-block and screw-nut being the same. The shoulders at, b and c, d are oppositely squared so as to abut against each other at the instant of clamping. The wall at the rear end of the slot in which the toothed por tion of the clamping-block plays is inclined as shown at e in Fig. 1, and the toe of the clamping-block is beveled so as to enable the block to ride easily up the inclined wall of the slot when the screw-nut F is out of contact with the clamping-block, the block being pushed rearwardly by the force of a spring or springs g attached to the front face of the block and seated upon a shoulder or shou1-' ders h cast on the inside of the sliding-bar near the lower face thereof.

In operating the vise the screw E is first turned to loosen the jaws and drive back the screw-nut F far enough to permit the clamping-block to rise from its seat in the teeth of the rack, which action of the clamping-block is enforced by the spring g. As soon as the teeth of the clamping-block are out of contact with the rack the sliding-bar is free to move within the case, and is drawn forward by the operator the proper distance to separate the jaws sufficiently to receive between them the object to be held by them. This object is then placed between the jaws, the sliding bar is pushed back as far as may be, and the screw is then turned to the right thus bringing the nut F into contact with the clamping-block which is forced over the slot in the bottom of the sliding-bar, and is driven downward by the opposing inclined face of the screw-nut until its teeth take into the teeth of the rack which occurs instantly with the abutting of the'shoulders a, 1) against the shoulders 0, cl, when a very slight farther turn of the screw tightly clamps the jaws upon the object between them. It will be readily seen that there is no strain thrown upon either the case or the sliding-bar by any Wedging action of the screw-nut and clamping-block, but that a locking action of the parts is induced, and that there is a straight longitudinal draft upon the screw which obviates all chance of torsion.

In my device as here shown I have introduced the elliptical spring 1' attached, as shown,to the top of the screw-nut, and Ihave also provided the screw-nut with a recess in its lower side into which fits the pin 70 controlled by a spiral spring. These are not essential adjuncts to my device, but by using them I am enabled to fit the parts with less precision and nicety than would otherwise be necessary. When the spring and pin are used some play is allowed between the threads of the screw and the nut F, and when the nut in its forward movement contacts with the clamping-block the power of the spring i promptly forces the clamping-block to its seat on. the rack, and insures a perfect locking action between the nut and clamping-block. Adjustable set screws or pins may be used with the nut in place of the springs and pin, as will be seen in Fig. 3.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a vise, the combination of the operating screw, a reciprocating nut having an inclined face and a shoulder on said face, a toothed clamping block having an inclined face and a shoulder on said face, and a rack; substantially as shown and described.

2. In a vise, the combination of the operating screw, a reciprocating nut having an inclined face and a shoulder on said face, a movable toothed clamping block having an inclined face and ashoulder on said face, an actuating spring bearing upon said clamping block, and a rack; substantially as shown and described.

3. In a vise, the combination of the screw, a reciprocating nut having an inclined face and a shoulder on such face, a movable toothed clamping-block provided with an inclined face and a shoulder on such face, an actuating spring between the clamping-block and the sliding-bar, the sliding-bar, and therack; substantially as shown and described.

4. In a vise, the combination of the screw, a reciprocating nut having an inclined face and a shoulder on such face and provided with adjusting devices, a movable toothed clampingblock having an inclined face and a shoulder on said face, an actuating spring fixed between the clamping-block and the sliding bar, the sliding bar provided with a slot to receivethe clamping block, and a rack; substantially as shown and described.

WVILLIAM E. SNEDIKER.

\Vitnesses:

SAML. D. OLIPHANT, J r., S. B. HUTcHINsoN. 

